Mitsubishi said on Wednesday that a an Outlander plug-in hybrid’s batteries melted at a dealership before it was delivered to a customer, while a i-MiEV’s batteries caught fire at its Mizushima Plant in Okayama prefecture in Japan during testing. In both cases, the battery pack is made by GS Yuasa Corporation, in Japan.
Now, what makes this story interesting is that, according to reports, GS Yuasa Corp. is the same company that supplies batteries for the latest Boeing 787 Dreamliner, all of which have been grounded since January after battery fires.
“This is more serious than the airplane incident,” Shoichi Arisawa, an analyst at Iwai Cosmo Securities Co., told Bloomberg News. “It’s another crunch in GS Yuasa’s expansion plans.”
On Wednesday, Mitsubishi issued a press release describing the Outlander incident:
“On March 20, 2013, an Outlander PHEV was charged fully from a standard outlet then stored at a dealership in Yokohama. The next day (March 21), the dealer personnel attempted to move the vehicle from storage for delivery to a customer (prior to registration) when it was found that it would not move. In addition a strange odor was detected around the vehicle. Upon checking the underbody of the vehicle, signs of melting were observed on the part of the drive battery pack.”
“When the battery pack was examined by the supplier, it was found that one of the battery pack’s 80 cells had overheated, melting adjacent cells. The 80 cells in the drive battery pack are divided and set into three “blocks” within the drive battery pack. Examination found that only one of the three blocks sustained any damage,” the company added.
Mitsubishi said no one was injured in the incident, but it advising owners of the Outlander PHEV to avoid charging their batteries until it pinpoints the problem.
“This incident occurred after the battery was fully charged for the first time. Mitsubishi Motors is decisively pushing forward with investigations into the root cause. Based on the above information Mitsubishi Motors suggests that Outlander PHEV drivers refrain from using external charging or Charge Mode until the cause is found. In addition, dealers will be contacting Outlander PHEV customers regarding use of their vehicle as well as responding to customer inquiries,” said Mitsubishi in a press statement.
GS Yusa shares are now going down (17 percent yesterday, in Tokyo), and the situation looks troublesome for the company that says it wants to make automotive battery packs one of its core lines of business.
Company officials said that while their company does make the battery packs for the 787, as well as for Mitsubishi (and Honda), they are assembled in different buildings and don’t really bare any relation to one another.
Nevertheless, this situation could be rated as being severe in its implications. The Outlander hybrid went on sale in Japan on January 24, but we don’t know how many have been sold. Still, a recall is very likely, and could delay the launch of the Outlander PHEV in the US and Europe if they don’t find a quick and safe fix.
By Andrei Nedelea
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